James the Christmas Grouch

12

As the snow fell outside and as the lights twinkled on our tree, he read to me. We only paused to play with the interactive pop-ups. And even though it was a story for parents to read to their kids, it didn't feel that way with us. Him reading it to me just made me feel loved. Like he wanted to share one of his happiest memories with me. It made me feel so close to him.

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!" James said in a very deep voice.

I smiled up at him. "You really liked it?"

He kissed my temple. "I loved it. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me."

I put my hand on his chest and felt the thudding of his heart beating. "We should probably get to bed so that Santa can come."

He laughed.

When I didn't say anything, he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Wait, are you serious? Penny we need to have a serious conversation. Santa isn't..."

I put my finger against his lips. "Don't say it, James. Don't say it until you wake up tomorrow and know for sure." I grabbed one of my notebooks off the coffee table and handed it to him. "Write down what you want from him and I'll get the milk and cookies."

"Baby, this is..."

"Awesome? Fantastic? The best thing ever?" I came back out carrying a plate of cookies and a glass of milk and set them down on the coffee table.

He laughed. "I was going to say ridiculous." But he ripped out the sheet of paper he had written on from the notebook and put it down next to the cookies and milk.

I grabbed the stockings I had stashed under the tree and hung mine up on the mantel of the fireplace. "Hang up your stocking too." I held it out to him.

He smiled as he got up off the couch. Our stockings had our names embroidered on them. I had been lucky that they had ones with our names left in the store on Christmas Eve. He shook his head as he hung up the stocking. "This really is ridiculous. But thank you for the stocking."

I grabbed the notebook, quickly wrote what I wanted, and placed the letter beside James'. "We'll see who's ridiculous come morning."

He lightly slapped my ass as he followed me up the stairs.

"Oh, actually, I'm thirsty," I said when I reached the top of the stairs. "I'm going to go grab some water. You can start getting ready for bed." I kissed his cheek and watched him go into our bedroom before I sprinted back down the stairs.

I pulled out the bag I had hidden under the Christmas tree. James was going to be so surprised when he woke up. I put the small presents I got for him inside of his stocking. I had bought a few random items for myself too, just to make it look like Santa didn't hate me. I tossed those into my stocking and then turned toward the coffee table. Even though I wasn't hungry, I quickly stuffed the cookies in my mouth and downed the milk.

I couldn't help but take a peek at James' note. I smiled when I saw that he had actually addressed it to Santa.

Dear Santa,

What is my Christmas wish? Well, that's an easy one. My wish to you is for Penny to truly feel like this is her home. For her to adjust to the city and be happy to be here with me. That is my Christmas wish.

-James

I held the sheet up to my chest. I am happy. And tomorrow I'd make sure he knew it. He wasn't the only one who had asked for something sentimental. I had asked Santa to give James the Christmas spirit. Because if there was anyone I knew that deserved the joy of Christmas in their heart, it was him.

I hurried back upstairs before James could suspect anything. As I crawled into bed after brushing my teeth, I snuggled into his side.

"Merry Christmas Eve, James," I whispered.

"Merry Christmas Eve, baby."

I closed my eyes. It had been years since I had been this excited for Christmas morning. When I finally drifted to sleep, the last thing I remembered was wondering if this was how my parents felt when they pretended to be Santa.

Christmas

Just like every Christmas, my eyes flew open early. I turned toward the alarm clock. It was only 7 am. But I couldn't wait another second. I tried to hide my squeal of excitement as I slipped out from underneath James' arm and tiptoed to the bathroom.

I opened up the drawer in the bathroom vanity where I had stashed the naughty Mrs. Claus outfit. After I finally managed to clasp every little hook on the back of the corset, I turned around. I smiled. It was even better than my red dress from last night. Actually, it was way better. My boobs nearly reached my chin. James almost always woke up with morning wood. And this morning, I was going to use that to my advantage.

I zipped up my thigh high boots and finished the outfit with a Santa hat. This year I was the ho in ho, ho, ho. I walked out of the bathroom and over to James' side of the bed. "Merry Christmas, James."

He started to yawn but it sounded like more of a gasp by the time it was over. "Holy s**t, Penny." He wiped the sleepy out of his eyes. "You have no idea how many times I wished I could wake up to this on Christmas morning growing up."

I laughed.

He blinked, like he thought he was imagining me.

"I heard you've been a little more naughty than nice this year."

"So I was sent you?" He pushed the covers back and sat up in bed.

I moved closer to him, putting my hands on his knees. "Mhm."

"Then I think I should be naughty more often."

"You could be naughty right now. Merry Christmas, James."

"This feels more like my birthday than Christmas." He slid off the bed and moved around me, effectively sandwiching me against the side of the bed. "How naughty are we talking?"

"As naughty as you want. When on the naughty list, I say live it up."

"You know, I probably do deserve to be on that list." He slowly trailed his fingers up the inside of my thigh. "Rumor has it I slept with one of my students."

"That's very naughty of you."

He pushed my thong to the side but didn't touch me. God, he had a way of making me go crazy with want.

"Oh you haven't heard the half of it," he said.

"Then tell me more." My head dropped back as he lightly brushed his finger against my wetness.

"I fell in love with her."

"More," I moaned.

"I asked her to marry me." He thrust a finger inside of me.

"James!"